They said firming global trend amid concerns over unrest in the Middle East increased demand for the metal as an alternative investment.

Gold in global markets, which normally set price trend on the domestic front, gained 0.5 per cent to 1,722.54 dollar an ounce and silver by 0.9 per cent to 32.61 dollar an ounce in London.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity advanced by Rs 25 each to Rs 32,200 and Rs 32,000 per ten grams respectively. The metal had gained 175 each on Saturday. Sovereign remained steady at Rs 25,500 per piece of eight grams in scattered deals.

Silver ready recovered by Rs 300 to Rs 61,400 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 180 to Rs 61,080 per kg.

On the other hand, silver coins continued to be asked around previous level of Rs 78,000 for buying and Rs 79,000 for selling of 100 pieces.